1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for effectively holding a plurality of magnetizable articles in a spaced apart relation, and methods of constructing and utilizing same.
In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus which employs magnets to hold magnetizable articles, such as mason jar lids, in a spaced apart relation while the lids are being boiled in water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the major disadvantages of home canning is the great deal of time consumption and hard work encountered by the homemaker. There have been many attempts made to minimize the time and effort required for the home canning operation, however, a major area of difficulty has remained. It is well known that in performing the required step of immersing mason jar canning lids in boiling water during the canning operation, the lids have a tendency to stick together in pairs or larger groups, thus resulting in time consumption and safety hazards in attempting to separate the lids for application to the mason jars. Heretofore, there have been no successful prior art attempts in solving this problem.
The present invention eliminates the foregoing problems by providing a magnetic holding apparatus which successfully and effectively retains the mason jar lids in a spaced apart relation during the boiling operation.
Illustrative of prior art attempts in the field of magnetic holding devices are: U.S. Pat. No. 2,803,595 issued in 1957 to Anzaldi entitled "ELECTROPOLISHING MAGNETIC ARTICLES", U.S. Pat. No. 2,966,992 issued in 1961 to Dunkelberger et al entitled "MAGNETIC HOLDER"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,036 issued in 1962 to Albert et al entitled "MAGNETIC SUPPORT"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,190 issued in 1964 to Miller entitled "MAGNETIC LICENSE BRACKET"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,016 issued in 1975 to Szpur et al entitled "MAGNETIZED SURGICAL INSTRUMENT TRAY RESTRAINT."
The magnetic holding apparatus in accordance with the present invention eliminates the disadvantages and shortcomings attendant with the conventional prior art technique, and at the same time provides an apparatus which effectively minimizes the time and effort involved in home canning, with a minimum of parts and at an extremely reduced cost of manufacture.